The present invention is a tennis racket with a novel construction for mounting the handle.
Tennis racket frames include a head, which supports strings for hitting the ball, and a handle which is gripped by the player to impart the hitting stroke. The handle, which is mounted on a shank portion of the racket frame, customarily includes a core of wood, plastic, or other material wrapped by leather, and is octagonal in configuration so as to provide a comfortable gripping surface. Conventionally, the handle is constructed directly on the shank portion of the frame so that the handle and frame become, for structural purposes, a unitary member.
Tennis racket frames come in a variety of constructions, so as to offer a range of diversity in playing characteristics, e.g. in terms of stiffness and feel. Tennis players choose a racket depending upon their level of skill and personal preferences. In order to satisfy different players, manufacturers must offer a selection of racket models.
In addition to selecting a racket with the right playing characteristics, it is important that the handle be properly sized relative to the player's hand for comfort and a good grip. Since all tennis players do not have the same size hand, racket manufacturers must offer each model of racket in a range of grip sizes. As a practical matter, tennis pro shops and other sporting goods retailers (which normally sell more than one brand) need to stock a substantial inventory of tennis rackets of different models and grip sizes.
Deer U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,440 and Snauwaert U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,943 recognize the inventory problem that is created by having to stock tennis rackets in multiple grip sizes. Each of these patents proposes tennis rackets having handles which are provided with special mounting constructions so that the handles may slide onto the shank of the tennis racket frame and be attached by screws. Deer proposes brazing a spreader element and a stay, with a pair of threaded apertures, onto the end of the handle attachment portion of the frame. A plastic handle piece slides over the frame and abuts against the spreader element. A pair of holes are provided in the end of the plastic handle, which receive screws that extend into the threaded apertures of the stay element to hold the handle in place.
Snauwaert proposes a handle assembly that includes an eight-sided tube or sheath, a pair of ribs to secure the tube about the racket shank, and an end cap which is held in place by the tube. The upper end of the tube includes a pair of holes for receiving screws. A bore is provided through the racket shank, which receives a plastic plug at a location opposite the holes in the handle tube. The handle assembly slides over the shank 3 and screws are inserted through the holes in the tube and into the plastic plug to secure the handle in place.
Trysinsky U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,887 discloses another tennis racket handle assembly in which the handle is separate from the frame. As in the case of Deer and Snauwaert, Trysinsky proposes a rather complex construction for attaching the handle to the racket by screws. The assembly includes an inner core of rigid polyurethane and a piece of aircraft aluminum tubing bonded to the polyurethane and having four precisely drilled and bevelled holes. Outside handle covers, and a separate end cap, are placed over the polyurethane core. Screws extend through the core, through the holes in the aluminum tubing, and through holes formed in the racket shaft for attaching the handle.
Tennis rackets must be capable of withstanding considerable force upon impact of the ball. Furthermore, it is important to maintain solid contact between the racket frame and handle to avoid vibration. This is a principal reason for building the handle directly about the frame, i.e., so as to form a unitary structure. In order to achieve the same solid structure using a handle with a mechanical mounting structure and screws, as in the three proposals discussed above, it would be necessary to manufacture each of the pieces with great precision so as to produce a tight fit on the racket shank. This, along with the generally complex structure of these pieces, is undesirable from the standpoint of cost. Even if the handle could be solidly mounted on the racket shank initially, the repeated impact and vibration of striking the tennis ball might tend to loosen the handle from the frame at the stress bearing locations, e.g. the screws, over the life of the racket.
While the aforementioned patents recognize the desirability of a tennis racket with a separately mounted handle, all of these prior attempts have failed to provide a construction that is practical from a commercial and structural standpoint, and such constructions have not, to my knowledge, been adopted by any racket manufacturer. None of the patents therefore suggest a practical alternative to a handle formed individually on the racket, in terms of a preformed handle that can be separately mounted on the tennis racket frame and that structurally is comparable to a handle which is built up on the frame itself. For such reasons, tennis racket handles continue to be formed individually on the frame during construction of the racket, and the frame continues to be supplied from the manufacturer with a selected size grip already on the racket.